Chapter 13 - A Knock at the Door
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Eighteen months after the ceremony, I was working in my garden on a bright Saturday morning when a sleek black sedan pulled up to the curb in front of my Arlington home.
A woman in an expensive wool coat stepped out of the back seat. She looked weary, her hair streaked with silver, her face lined with stress.
It was Sarah Vance—Ethan’s aunt, Margaret’s estranged sister.
I stood up, wiping the soil from my gardening gloves, and watched her walk up my driveway.
“Clara,” Sarah said softly, stopping a few feet away. She looked at my arm, then up at my face. “I know I’m probably the last person you want to see.”
“You’re certainly unexpected, Sarah,” I replied, my voice polite but guarded. “How did you find my address?”
“I asked the family attorney,” she said, letting out a heavy sigh. “Margaret asked me to come to you. She’s… her health is deteriorating in the federal facility in West Virginia. She wants to see you. She wants to ask for your forgiveness before her appeal hearing.”
I stared at Sarah, almost amused by the sheer audacity of the request.
May you like
“Forgiveness?” I repeated quietly.
“She knows she was wrong, Clara,” Sarah pleaded, her voice cracking slightly. “She realizes now how out of control Ethan was. She’s an old woman, and she’s dying alone in a prison hospital. Please… just give her ten minutes.”
